Spider on my Window
by Kate Nox
Summary: A communication challenged negotiation goes awry at SG-1, and a teenage Daniel ends up in hot water. Can Jack save him before his future dies? Chap3 is up! PLEASE r&r!
1. Basics

Disclaimer: I own them all! I own everything! Muh ha ha, I am the creator of all things Stargate! Bow before me- Worship ME! No! No, not more meds- AHH get the white coated ones away! Not Sleepy... not sleepy... mine... mine...

Disclaimer: Stargate original characters and the Stargate universe are property of Showtime/Viacom, MGM/UA, Gekko Productions and Double Secret Productions. I am not affiliated with the aforementioned in any way. No copyright infringement is intended. Will you let me go home now?

Spoilers: Gamekeeper... kind of.

A/N : In this fic I'm going with the Gamekeeper side of events; Daniel is around six when his parents die. I've fixed up the format a little, but I'm still experiencing difficulty with WordPerfect. Stick with me! And please PLEASE please (please) R&R. It makes my shrink happy.

oOoooOoooOo

Daniel, Age Six, New York Museum of Art.

"I'm sorry. This area isn't open to the public." The museum worker bent down to see past the bangs in the six-year-old's face.

"But my parents are in there."

"Oh, you must be Daniel. You can come and watch, but be careful. They are just finishing up the first temple." Daniel let her take his hand and lead him through the bustling construction zone. "Lets find you a safe spot, Daniel." Said the museum worker, looking around purposefully while dragging Daniel behind her.

"Can I sit here?" He asked, pointing to an unused corner of the stucco walls.

"Sure you can, honey." She said sweetly. Daniel craned his neck to smile at her as he sat cross-legged in the saw dust. She turned to return to her post, and Daniel surveyed the room. A skeletal crew of construction workers was taking instruction from his parents, who were eagerly reconstructing their temple. Everything was carefully positioned to look as it had in Egypt, minus the miles of sand and sun. The thin layering of sand in this exhibit ended about a yard from the temple walls, where the usual New York Museum of Art's architecture look its place. Ignored by all, Daniel began to trace hieroglyphs in the sawdust. He pretended he was excavating an ancient stone, uncovering secret codes and instructions. He drew the Glyph for feather, just because it was first to come to his mind. Then a Glyph to represent the god Isis. Feather... that Glyph could also mean goddess. Could this discovery indicate a relation to Isis? A secret God? Daniel imitated in his mind a dialog he could imagine his parents having upon discovering the message in the sawdust.

"Be careful with that cover plate." said Melburn. Daniel looked up. His mother was checking the positioning of the temple for the third time, comparing it with the blueprints they had carefully graphed back in Egypt. The Museum had offered to have a professional architect set the exhibit up, but Daniels's dad had insisted on doing it himself. Both his parent's wanted to recreate the temple to look just as it had back in the XII dynasty, a job only an Archeologist could do.

"Jake, it's swinging a bit." Daniel's mom said, looking up at the cover plate. The walls surrounding them were not secured, (just as in Egypt) so the cover plate would have to be balanced in exactly the right way. Melburn said something to his father, who consulted the blueprint. Daniel watched from the floor worriedly, but didn't want to say anything in case he distracted them.

"On your left. Jake, can we bring this in? Careful, bring it down. Let's look at the front." Melburn moved out from behind the crane to check the alignment from a different angle.

"It's swinging." Daniel's mom said again.

"Mom-" Daniel said tentatively, unable to keep silent any longer. This didn't look right. He stood up from the saw dust.

"It's okay, it's fine, we'll be fine." Said Melburn, motioning for Daniel to keep quite without looking at him. "Careful." he said to the eager Archaeologist beneath the stone. Daniel's mom buried her face in blueprints again as Melburn brought his hands up to check out the alignment.

"A bit more level, Jake." said Daniel' s mom. Melburn acknowledged her, and motioned to the crane operator. Daniel hoped he knew what he was doing. That stone didn't look safe to him.

"Okay, Jake, let's bring it dow-"Something above the plate snapped with a ferocity Daniel would not have thought possible. He tried to yell out to his parents, but his voice came out as a strangled rasp. The cover stone slammed down upon the pillars. Daniel's ears heard his mother's scream, but his brain didn't process it. The temple collapsed inward, hiding them from view.

People were shouting all around Daniel, gathering around the wreckage and calling to the people inside. He didn't move. None of this was real. It was just a nightmare. They weren't dead. They couldn't be dead. This was America, people didn't die in America.

There was blood seeping out from beneath the pillars, turning the thin layer of fake sand to a dark red color. Daniel's body was not obeying his mind, so he left it behind. He wanted to scream and run and tear, but his legs wouldn't unlock. He was flouting out above his parents. He watched the paramedics arrive. He watched as mangled bodies were extracted from the mess of sandstone and blood. He watched his own face as an EMT felt for a pulse, then shook her head.

Three lives ended that day, but for one, the suffering had only just begun.

oOo

SG-1, Present Day, Briefing Room.

The actions of the NID had caused problems for SG-1 yet again. The team was gathered around the table in the briefing room, huddled around steaming coffee and hot-off-the-press reports. Jack was eyeing his mug with a look that said he wished it were something stronger. Daniel was looking eager and worried and dead tired all at the same time, and yet still managed to seem pensive. Sam and Teal'c were engrossed in the papers in front of them, and didn't seem to notice anything else. Hammond appeared at the door.

"Good morning." he said gruffly. _Only in the military did 12:30 count as morning._ The team rose to their feet with barely silent groans of protest. Hammond didn't wait for them all to sit again before beginning. "You have all been briefed on our situation. We have a meeting with the alien rep scheduled for 0200 hours, at which time we will try to persuade them to consider a different course of action. The president has been notified of their most recent threat, but no one is going to go public just yet. Our orders are to stop this by diplomatic means, and gather as much information as possible about what exactly it is the NID stole. Returning the item is, at this point, not an available option."

"What have we got to offer these guys?" Jack asked, rubbing sleep from his eyes.

"Nothing." Hammond answered without hesitating. Jack bowed his head into the steam from his coffee.

"Sir, if the aliens don't know who stole their machine, how do we?" Sam asked.

"We don't have any proof it was the NID, but it's looking like the most plausible explanation at the moment. It doesn't really matter. These Aliens don't seem to care who did it, their just going to blame the entire planet."

"Why?" Sam asked.

"Daniel?" Jack turned to the Archeologist beside him. "What do we know?"

"Well, their mentality probably has something to do with their own social structure." Daniel began, "They are definitely an off-shoot of original earth humans, but they seem to have developed into a far different race. From the information here," Daniel gestured to the paper in front of him, "I'd say they were taken from earth very early. These people have been evolving on their own for quite some time, although they show some signs of Middle and Upper Paleolithic hunter-gatherer type culture. But their bone structure suggests-" Daniel stopped as Jack let his head droop back to his coffee. He frowned, then finished sheepishly. "They seem to be a very advanced race. Their technology could possibly rival our own."

"Thank you, Dr. Jackson." Hammond said, before Daniel could start speaking again.

"Did he just say these Aliens are doing this because they don't know any better?" Jack said incredulously.

"Basically-" Daniel started to explain.

"That's a yes, then." Jack interrupted. Daniel looked at his coffee dejectedly, attributing Jacks mood to the current time. He nodded.

"Right, we're getting somewhere already."


	2. The Strands come Together

Disclaimer: What do you mean I can't steal them? WHY GOD?! WHY MUST YOU TORTURE ME SO!? I CAN'T TAKE IT ANYMORE! GOOD BYE CRUEL WO-

THUNK

Disclaimer: Characters. Universe. Property of Showtime/Viacom MGM/UA Gekko Productions Double Secret Productions. Not affiliated. No infringement intended. Resistance futile. You will be assimilated.

Spoilers: None anymore, I think.

oOoooOoooOo

Daniel, Age 15, Murry Bergtraum High School.

Daniel stood outside the chem lab debating how to spend his lunch break. Work was definitely on the table, as was stopping by the espresso stand. But the Starbucks was in the commons, which was currently full of loud and hungry students. For some reason, negotiating his way through crowds of resenting fellow students didn't appeal to him today. Being a Senior of only 14 years had its drawbacks. It was also Thursday, which meant the library would be used for chessclub. Daniel settled on finding a deserted room to read. The sciences hall was always empty during lunch.

Settling into a back-breaking chair, he pulled out an old book and his journal. He had been copying down hyroglyphs from the library reference book for three days, but found it just as fascinating as when he had first begun. His parents had taught him Egyptian. It would always be the language of his heart.

As Daniel was copying, he started an old familiar game with his mind. He told his senses that his parents were standing behind him, watching his work. He could hear his mother breathing. His dad was tapping a foot. He could almost see them as a blur in the corner of his eye. Once he had convinced himself they were there, he started to give them words. They knew he was listening intently- his mom was trying to embarrass him. She was telling his father about how much he had grown. Daniel smiled to himself, finishing off the phonogram in front of him.

oOo

SG-1, Present Day, Embarkation Room.

"Hello. I have taken the liberty of learning your Earth language, so we may better negotiate the issue at hand."

"That was... thoughtful of you." Jack said uncertainly. The Alien before him looked human enough, though his head had a slightly different shape. He was dressed in a simple robe, had very pale skin, and wore no shoes. He looked slightly out of place beside all the military types milling around in the embarkation room.

"You learned an entire language in 2 days?" Sam asked, her voice sparked with curiosity. The Alien gave her a puzzled look, but Jack stepped in before he could reply.

"Oh course he did, he's a smart fella." He said simply. "Come on in, sir, and we can discuss the 'issue at hand'." The Alien fallowed SG-1 into an unmarked conference room.

Several hours and much patience later, the team had made very little progress with the Alien, who's name no one could remember nor pronounce.

"Will you shut up about that damn threat already!" Jack slammed a fist onto the table, after hearing the Alien repeat the same sentence for the fifth time.

"If our device is not returned within 2 earth days, your planet _will_ be cleansed. This fact, it seems, has yet to have any effect on you."

"We told you, Hectamphet- or whatever your name is- we _don't_ have your little doohicky- we never did!"

"Your words confuse me,"

"What?"

"You are the representatives of your race, correct?"

"Yes."

"Then I see no other possibilities. You have stolen the device, we request you return it, or there will be consequences." Jack pushed his chair away from the table, throwing his hands in the air. Daniel took this as his cue.

"I don't think we are understanding each other." He said patiently.

"Thank god for geniuses." Daniel shot Jack a look.

"I don't see how it can seem so complicated," said the Alien, allowing a rare show of frustration to leak past his mask. "Return the device, or Earth will be-"

"I think you leading us down a road." Jack interrupted. "If you could 'cleanse' our planet, why not do it now?"

"You wish to die?"

"I don't have the time or the patience to do.... this... anymore. We _don't_ _have _this device thing."

"Then you are forcing me to destroy you."

"Jack-" Daniel said wearyingly. The CO ignored him.

"Empty threat." he said. The Alien looked puzzled. "Dr. Carter, explain to our friend here about Earth's shield." Faces turned to the scientist's side of the table.

Sam covered her shock by nodding slowly. "Sir... It would take a very long time to-..."

"Give him the footnotes, then." Sam gave Jack a heavy glance before launching into a stream of techno-babble even Daniel couldn't fallow. Jack let her continue for almost 2 minutes before interrupting her.

"Needless to say, the thing is complicated. And unbreakable." Alien hadn't understood a word. He sat very still for a moment, then spoke in a dangerously calm voice that made Jack think he may have underestimated him.

"You are lying to me. You have my device, that much is certain. You are unwilling to return it, and that is understandable. I will find new means of persuasion. In the mean time, I suggest you produce my device before things get dangerous." The Alien stood to leave. "I will contact you within 20 Earth hours."

oOo

Daniel, Age 15, Murry Bergtraum High School.

Daniel slung his bag over a shoulder as he walked out of 7th period Calculous, his mind feeling like a wrung sponge. He caught the Metro at the corner, swiped his card, and sat in the back. He was in a good mood, despite the lack of caffeine in his system. He was looking forward to going home, mainly because he had just started to feel comfortable with his new foster family. They treated him alright, and left him alone a lot of the time. He was able to get a lot done with a room all to himself.

He was stepping off the bus when things started to feel weird. First his feet started to tingle, which he observed vaguely and mainly ignored. As the bus disappeared around a bend in the road, his legs started to tingle, fallowed by his chest, then his head. He dropped his bag, gasping and clutching at his throat. His vision was dissolving, breath wasn't coming, the ground was rising- Daniel had just enough time to wonder if he was dying before passing out on the wet pavement.

oOo

SG-1, Present Day, Infimary.

"They found him around 1000 hours, out cold beside his computer. No evidence of trauma- no evidence of anything, really." Daniel was hooked up to more machines than the Stargate, and none of them appeared to be doing him any good. He was deathly pale, almost to the point of translucency. He had an oxygen mask strapped to his face, and was only barely breathing.

Jack looked down at the sleeping linguist with a painful fatherly expression on his face. Why was it always Daniel? Janet pulled his chart from the slot beside the bed. "The labs came back five minutes ago, but they were inconclusive." She said, scanning the page in front of her.

"Inconclusive?" Not good. Janet looked back up at him.

"I'd like to run some more tests... but at the moment, I think we're looking at multiple organ failure."

"Any chance this doesn't have anything to do with a weird Alien looking for leverage?" The doctor looked slightly surprised upon hearing the connection she was just about to make.

"It is my professional opinion that Daniel's condition is not a result of natural causes... But beyond that, there is very little I can tell you at this point." Jack nodded grimly, and Daniel slept on. _Why was it always Daniel?_


	3. Spider

Disclaimer: They own it, I don't.

Disclaimer: But honestly, who would sue me? I have no money, and this computer is from the dark ages- go ahead! Sue me for all I'm worth! Lets see how far that flies- I'll be laughing my head off in court! AH ha ha HA ha HA!

Spoilers: Hmm... nope.

A/N : _Acoraphobia_- An abnormal fear of high places.

oOoooOoooOo

Daniel, Age 15, Earth's Orbit.

Daniel awoke with a feeling of extreme nausea. Keeping his eyes closed, he reached out a hand to get his bearings. What he felt was definitely _not_ pavement. Opening his eyes with a start, Daniel was greeted with a sight that turned his stomach. He was lying on a window in the floor, above what looked sickeningly like Earth. Daniel fought the urge to vomit. This was an acrophobe's 7th level.

"Oh boy." he muttered under his breath, turning onto his back. The teenager focused on breathing evenly as he tired to remember what had happened to him.

"Daniel Jackson." The even voice had come from a balcony above him. Daniel raised his head an inch from the floor, but regretted it as his vision began to blur.

"Yea..." He said uncertainly, lowering himself back against the floor.

"I apologize for any discomfort your journey may have caused. I was unable to anticipate complications involving our genetic differences."

"Our... what?" Daniel rubbed his eyes. For some reason he felt really really tired.

"Apparently there are some major variations in our genome structure. Fortunately, I was able to repair the damage caused to your molecular makeup before you re-materialized." Daniel considered this answer for a moment before deciding he had finally gone mad.

"Okay, tell you what; I'm not feeling to well at the moment, could you come back in, say, an hour? 'Cause right now I'm just going to-"

"I _am_ sorry, sir, but I request your attention _now_. Timing is crucial at the moment. A life very important to you is in a very fragile state, and I seriously doubt he can sustain himself for an extended period of time."

"What?"

"You are going to die unless you help get me what I want." The voice said cooly.

Daniel struggled to hold on to the fleeting strands of his patience. The sight below him had wrecked havoc with his thought process. He sat up very slowly. Carefully not looking down, Daniel began to speak in an equally cool voice.

"For all intensive purposes, I am going to assume that you are an Alien." The man looked slightly surprised that Daniel had not known this. "I am also going to assume that you have transported me to this... ship... to use as a hostage." The alien didn't deny it, so Daniel coninued. "What I would like to know is, one, why you chose me, and two- what it is you are missing."

"I would have thought that would be obvious." The alien said smoothly. "You are the representative with the least webs. This made you the easiest to transport."

"Webs?"

"Forgive me, your language does not posses the words I need to use. I chose to transport you because you have the least attachments to your surroundings. You love no one, and no one loves you." Daniel realized the alien was explaining this purely in the interest of science, but the words still stung. They wouldn't have hurt half as bad if he hadn't known they were true. Moving from home to home had caused him to develop very few attachments, and it bothered him more then he cared to admit.

"So... So this transportation device of yours only works on people who don't have attachments?"

"In short, it works by forming an attachment with everything that is you. The process is hindered by attachments on the other side. This problem does not usually occur among my people. As for your second question, the device I am missing is called Htyd-j-qwasen, in my language. My research has turned up no corresponding word in your Earth language."

"What does this device do?"

"Creates my helpers. What do you call your Htyd-j-qwasen?"

"I don't understand..." Said Daniel. "What do you mean by helpers?"

"Well, I will introduce you to one." The alien said quizzically, clearly not understanding why Daniel was being so slow. Without any visible cue, a door behind the alien retracted and a younger boy stepped through. "I call him Jaq-yteg-hozen." Said the alien. "He was the head of the team designated to learn your language for me." Daniel thought he finally understood. He rose to his feet and walked closer to the balcony.

"This is incredible..." he said disbelievingly, quite forgetting the wide expanse of space below him. "This boy... he's an expansion of yourself? You can do two things at once, in two different bodies?"

"Two?" The alien said incredulously. "I have over a _hundred _helpers. This is not how your planet works?" Daniel grinned.

"No, no it's not." He said with amusement. The alien looked confused and anxious.

"That would explain all the webs-" He said quickly. "Representative... it does not mean delegate of others?"

"Oh, it does, but not in the sense you are thinking of. Our minds only occupy one body." Daniel glanced at the boy beside the alien.

"I think I have made a very dangerous mistake." he said.


End file.
